Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, has launched their Community Campfires residencies project.
It marks the 14th year of Scottish Book Trust’s annual Your Stories campaign and four intensive story making residencies will take place in communities across Scotland via the Story Wagon.
The Community Campfires residencies will work in partnership with four different library services. Over five days, the charity will support people in the community to tell the stories from their lives that matter to them. The residencies are supported by EventScotland as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
Scotland’s Year of Stories spotlights, celebrates and promotes the wealth of stories inspired by, written, or created in Scotland. Stories are vital to every part of Scotland. Every community has its own tales to tell, places to highlight as inspiration for well-known books and films, visitor attractions that showcase our literature, poetry and storytelling heritage and all kinds of places and spaces where stories, old and new, can be enjoyed.
The Story Wagon will tour: Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire; Greenock, Inverclyde; Lochgelly, Fife and the Western Isles, gathering real life stories from the public. Luke Winter, Navigation Officer of the Story Wagon, will be joined by a team of digital storytellers, filmmakers and podcasters producing content in English and Gaelic.
Story Wagon stops:
- Monday 18 April to Friday 22 April, North Ayrshire
- Monday 25 April to Friday 30 April, Inverclyde
- Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May, Fife
- Monday 30 May to Friday 3 June. Western Isles – Barra, South Uist and Eriskay, Benbecula and North Uist.
Culture Minister Neil Gray said: ‘Every community has a story to tell and it’s exciting to see Scottish Book Trust working with local libraries to bring these to life as part of their Community Campfire residences.
‘Our partners, Scottish Book Trust, have a fantastic track record when it comes to using stories to transform lives and I’m sure those that emerge from this project will make an important contribution to Scotland’s Year of Stories.’
Luke Winter, Navigation Officer of the Story Wagon, (top) said: ‘I’m incredibly excited for Story Wagon to be visiting four areas of Scotland with Scottish Book Trust as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories with EventScotland.
“As craic catalysts, Story Wagon encourages people to explore and create stories. The Your Stories programme from Scottish Book Trust has done a brilliant job of collating treasure troves of stories across Scotland over the past fourteen years.
“We are incredibly excited to be joining with them to meet with the public across Scotland and to help collect personal stories from the extraordinary times we’re all living through.’
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “‘The Your Stories programme has always been a cornerstone of Scottish Book Trust, giving a platform for the public to share personal experiences and for some, be published for the first ever time.
Through the Community Campfires residencies project, we will be able to connect directly with these important stories and share them with a wider audience. We’re grateful to EventScotland for funding this programme and we look forward to celebrating stories from North Ayrshire to North Uist.’
Each residency will conclude with a celebratory ‘community campfire’ for each local authority. These events will allow the public to come together and share their stories through a wide variety of formats such as print, audio and film.
On Friday 1 April, Scottish Book Trust will open their national Your Stories project, which encourages the public to submit their real-life experiences, tied in to Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
A selection of these stories will be published in a free book that is distributed during Book Week Scotland (14–20 November 2022). Information about submission will be shared on Scottish Book Trust’s website.
A Scotland’s Stories: Community Campfires flagship event will also take place during Book Week Scotland, celebrating the stories gathered across the country.
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